Southwest Florida has almost every type of waterway within a relatively small area. We have rivers, canals, shallow bays, passes, sounds, deep harbors, intercoastal waterways and intracoastal waterways.

Navigating these waters, you'll run into draw-bridges, locks, lifts, channels, fixed bridges, weirs, and more.

Below is an introduction to some of these features of Southwest Florida boating.

Bridges

Fixed Bridges: Fixed bridges are just exactly what they sound like. They are roads that go over the waterways and can not be raised up. Fixed bridges over channels are often very high so large boats can pass under them. Inland bridges, however, may be of limited height. If you purchase property behind one of these bridges, it will limit the height of the boat you can navigate below them.

Drawbridges: Our outlying islands are connected to the mainland with drawbridges. These have fixed opening times, and operators whom who need to contact when you have a boat that will go under the bridge when closed. Traffic on these causeways can get backed up when the bridges open frequently.

 

Locks

The inland Caloosahatchee River and a great deal of the SW Cape Coral canal system are serviced by locks.  These are devices that move your boat from waterways of differing heights. The Franklin Locks in east Lee County is also a park, and makes up part of the Intracoastal Waterway, leading to the Lake Okeechobee and ultimately, the east coast.

Lifts

In the NW and SE Cape there are also boat lifts. The boat lift has a concrete barrier across the canal and the lift actually takes your boat out of the water and lifts it over the barrier. It then sets the boat down on the other side. Unlike the lock there is a size and weight restriction on the lift. It is restricted to about 5,000 lb and 25' in length. As of early 2009 the lift in the NW has not been replaced. At this time there is no obstruction to enter the NW canals. It is still possible that the lift, or a lock, will be placed in that area in the future.